Exhaust, pigeons and faulty ACs cause lung problems

The good news: Levels of pollutants in Mumbai's air —noxious traces of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide — are lower than three years ago.

The bad news: Levels of PM10 — the microscopic dust with deadly effects— is dangerously high. The worst news: The incidence of respiratory ailments in the city is higher than a decade ago. And given the galloping pace of construction work, it is unlikely to come down in a hurry.

These points were made at a conference on 'Strategies for air pollution control in Mumbai', organised by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).

A study by KEMhospital, released on Tuesday, showed that cases of interstitial lung disease (inflammation of capillaries) have increased from 1,479 in 2000 to 1,871 in 2004. Cases of bronchitis have gone up as has allergic rhinitis. "The levels of lung functions were significantly low among those with respiratory symptoms like allergic rhinitis, bronchitis and other chest problems," said Dr Amita Athavale in her presentation.

Dr Athavale interprets the findings as follows. "People living near dusty roads and in poorly ventilated houses aremore likely to suffer from poor lung function," she said. Affluent classes have other problems likemalfunctioning airconditioning units. "Pigeons nest on top of airconditioners and they have a type of fungus that can cause lung diseases.We should regularly clean ACs and ensure that pigeons don't nest near windows," she said.

"People living along roads with heavy traffic such as P D'Mello Road which leads from the docks to Wadala are the worst off as they are constantly exposed to pollutants," says MPCB chief Dr D B Boralkar.

Some preferred to focus on the positive. "The lower levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), Sulphur oxides (SOx) and even suspended particulate matter prove that the steps taken in Mumbai over the last few years are bearing results, even though a lot still needs to be done," said Dr S Devotta, director of NEERI.He believes government policies leading to cleaner fuels, Euro II engines, better and broader roads, better traffic rules and the plethora of flyovers have contributed to cleaning up the air

good laugh can help build healthy heart muscles!

good laugh can help build healthy heart muscles!

It's hard to believe that watching Munnabhai MBBS or a David Dhawan potboiler can actually help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

But according to a study conducted by the University of Maryland Medical Centre, USA, watching a funny movie has a healthy effect on blood vessel function.

On the other hand, watching mentally stressful movie can cause the lining of the blood vessels to narrow and restrict blood flow.

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Says Michael Miller of the University in an online report: "Laughter offsets the impact of mental stress."

Miller presented the results of his study recently at the scientific session of the American College of Cardiology.

Dr S P Bijotra, vice chairperson, Department of Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here, New Delhi, says, "Humour is an essential part of psychotherapy treatment that we give heart patients. We advocate that five minutes of laughter is good enough to rejuvenate the body for 12 hours."

"The ability to laugh, either naturally or as learned behaviour, may have important implications for India, where heart disease remains the number one killer," says K K Agarwal, vice president, Heart Care Foundation of India.

"Humour therapy," says Dr Bijotra, "is used extensively in yoga and other alternative therapies. Joggers laughing heartily in parks most early mornings is a common sight.

"But more and more hospitals are waking up to the fact and even plan to have humour specialists and separate humour therapy departments."

The secret to good health forever!
Dr Agarwal says people with heart disease are less likely to recognise humour or use it to get out of uncomfortable situations. They generally laugh less, even in positive situations and display more anger and hostility.

He says mental stress is also associated with impairment of the endothelium, the protective barrier lining of our blood vessels.

This can cause a series of inflammatory reactions that lead to fat and cholestrol build up in the coronary arteries and, ultimately, lead to heart attack.

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In the Maryland study, researchers had a group of 20 healthy men and women watch two movies at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. They then measured the movies' effects on their blood vessels via ultrasound.

The results showed that blood flow was reduced in 14 out of 20 volunteers after watching movie clips that caused mental stress.

But beneficial blood vessel effects and relaxation were found in 19 of 20 volunteers watching the funny movie.

"We don't recommend that you do laugh and not exercise," says Miller, adding, "but we do recommend that you try to laugh on a regular basis. Thirty minutes of exercise three times a week and 15 minutes of laughter on a daily basis is good for the vascular system."

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"Here are just a few of the ways I came up
with off the top of my head on how to get
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- Tell a story

- Create suspense for future issues

- Create curiosity so they read through
the entire email

- Use a subject line that is personally
relevant to the reader

- Use a piece of trivia to relate to
what you are talking about.

- write as a series (installments) to keep
readership up

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that can be answered unless they open your
email)

- Use the news (relate what you are writing
about to something in the recent news)

- Create some conflict (think soap operas)

- Relate things to your personal life while
always injecting your own personality and
flair.

Use one or many of these together in your
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